Philippines can't deny 'shared DNA' with Beijing even as South China Sea sours ties: Marcos Jnr

While reiterating that his country would not surrender "a square inch" of its maritime sovereignty, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr on Monday said he was prepared to work with Beijing on challenges in the South China Sea through formal channels, in part because of their countries' shared "Chinese DNA".

Marcos Jnr made the comments during an address at an event in Melbourne hosted by the Lowy Institute, on the sidelines of the Asean-Australia Special Summit, but this time softened his oft-made stance by saying that Manila was determined to make its "bilateral mechanisms with China work".

The Philippines and Australia conducted their first joint patrols in the South China Sea in November, with the aim of countering an increasingly assertive China.

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The Philippines is one of several countries caught up in territorial conflicts with China over the disputed sea, with Manila accusing Beijing of committing aggressive acts inside the maritime boundaries of its exclusive economic zone and targeting its fishermen.

Marcos Jnr, however, said he would "not mind" if the Philippines returned to harmony with China, referencing their long history, including the establishment of bilateral relations in 1976 and their 600-year trading relationship.

"If we are to examine DNA, there are very few Filipinos with no Chinese DNA. My family actually makes much of the fact that we have, within our family tree, an infamous Chinese pirate who used to operate within the waters of the then South China Sea. That cannot be discounted," he said.

"And that has always been part of our thinking as we look to China."

He pointed out there were as many Chinese investments and nationals in the Philippines as there were Chinese-Filipinos who were born in China.

Marcos Jnr said despite the skirmishes in the South China Sea, the Philippines recognised China as an "important neighbour and partner".

But working with Beijing did not mean working in a "vacuum" and so Manila would continue to upgrade the capabilities of the Philippine Coast Guard and modernise the armed forces.

Marcos Jnr said he was also supportive of Aukus, the trilateral nuclear-powered submarine security alliance between Australia, Britain and the United States, which many anti-war groups in Australia have objected to recently.

"It [Aukus] follows a very simple basic principle that a coalition is - because it has a larger base - much more robust in resisting any kind of unilateral move by any other country. I think [Aukus] strengthens the position of Asia, of Asean, of the Indo-Pacific, when we are confronted with challenges and threats," he said.

When asked about his cultivation of warmer relations with the US, Marcos Jnr said the closeness of the two countries was also one based on history, particularly their long-time mutual defence treaty. He added that Washington's presence in Asia-Pacific was a "stabilising force".

But he cautioned that closeness to the US, or any other state, did not override the Philippines' national interests.

"Let me make it very, very clear. The Philippines acts for its own interests, and the decisions that we make when it comes to foreign policy is because we believe and are convinced that it is in the national interest," he said.

"It is not a policy that has been foisted upon us by any country. It is something that we have come to on our own, it is a conclusion that we have arrived at by ourselves."

Marcos Jnr added that Manila's foreign policy was one that rejected a geopolitical "regression into the old bipolar Cold War formula", in which smaller countries like the Philippines had to choose a side.

"There are those who continue to see regional development solely from the narrow prism of great power rivalries. There are those who reduce these developments for a regional digression towards outdated Cold War paradigms," he said.

Marcos Jnr cautioned against an overemphasis on and simplification of "sides", as it would "subsume the legitimate rights and interests" of middle-power countries like the Philippines, Australia and other Asean members into the interests of so-called superpowers.

"As if we are mere pawns with no strategic agency," he said.

"If we are to successfully navigate the treacherous waters brought about by this recent geopolitical flux, we need to clarify, and we need to have foresight, that the future of this region will be shaped not by one or two, but by many actors, and they will each demand that their voices be heard, individually, and collectively, as indeed they should be."

Equally, he could not see any countries in the Asia-Pacific standing "idly", passively caught up by the US-China rivalry and not taking action.

"We in the Indo-Pacific must ensure that great powers do not treat the world as an arena for their competition," he said.

"The pursuit of the great powers' respective strategic goals must never come at the expense of the interest of smaller states, nor of regional and international peace."

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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